A British businessman has accused the Home Office of trying to destroy his family in an astonishing row over the deportation of his 15-year-old stepdaughter.

American-born teenager Camille Beutler has been ordered to leave the country after the UK authorities rejected her application for residency.

But to comply with the order the grammar school girl will have to leave both her parents and three siblings behind.

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Family divided: Camille Beutler (middle), 15, - pictured with mother Lee-Ann and stepfather Nick Korpal - is being threatened with deportation from the UK

The teenager has until today to inform the Home Office of her travel arrangements and has been threatened with jail and a £2,500 fine if she refuses to go.

So the family faces the prospect of being split in two until a solution can be found.

Her American mother Lee-Ann Korpal, 37, may have to travel back to the United

States to live with Camille as they have no other living relatives there.

But that will mean leaving husband Nick, 45, and their three children behind as he does not have a work permit for the US and the family want to remain over here.

Mr Korpal and his three young children all have British passports, but his wife and stepdaughter Camille only have a US passport and have had to apply for residency.

Applications by both mother and daughter were turned down. And although Mrs Korpal has been given permission to appeal, her teenage daughter has not and must go immediately.

A letter sent by the Home Office to Camille stated there were "no insurmountable obstacles to your family life being continued overseas."

The family has now hired a lawyer and enlisted the help of their local MP in a bid to prevent the family being torn apart.

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Happier times: Camille's mother Lee-Ann with Nick on their wedding day. Her visa application was also turned down but she has been given permission to appeal

Mr Korpal, who is a sales executive for an international aviation firm, said from his home in Bingley, West Yorkshire: "The Home Office is trying to destroy my family. It's not like we are illegal immigrants who are trying to come in and use public funds or benefits. We just want to live and work in this country.

"Camille has been doing so well at her school and she loves it. She doesn't want to leave her friends.

"The school have said she has fit in well there and is a good student with a bright future.

"I feel like we are being perpetrated for a crime. All I am guilty of is falling in love with an American, and marrying her."

Mr Korpal was working in the states when he met and began a relationship with his future wife 14 years ago. They married in Las Vegas in 2001and later went to live in Goa, India.

The family then decided they wanted to live in the UK and Mr Korpal was successful in getting British passports for his children. Nick Jr, seven, Ayanna, eight, and Oksana, 13.

His wife and stepdaughter were not eligible for a passport, but were told by

consul officials they could apply for residency when they moved over here.

The family moved in July 2006 and a month later contacted the Home Office to sort out what they understood would be a formality.

But to their horror officials informed them that they could only apply for permission to live in the UK from abroad and they had been given the wrong information by consular staff.

Mr Korpal said there is "no guarantee" that permission will be granted if his wife leaves the country with Camille or how long it will take.

The only solution may be to move back to the USA.

A tearful Mrs Korpal said: "If Camille has to go then I will have to go to, because there is no one there for her.

"No one. All of our American relatives have died and the only ones we have left are in Holland.

"What is she supposed to do? Live in Terminal One in JFK airport? If we can't fix it so that I can get out there she would have to go into a home.

"Once I am there, I can start the ball rolling to apply for Nick to get a work permit, but it takes months and until then the family is separated. And it's not like I have a job lined up out there."

Camille has not seen her natural father since she was a baby and they have no contact with him.

Mr Korpal added: "It looks like there's nothing we can do but send our daughter to America. The whole family is devastated and we don't know how to make this work.

"My father has had two strokes and a heart attack. Having Camille close to him keeps him going. It keeps him positive.

"And now he's going to lose her and we don't know how to keep our family together."

A spokesman for the Border and Immigration Agency said the department "did not comment on individual cases."

But he said to "protect the immigration system and marriage laws from abuse" a spouse must hold a "valid entry clearance" when arriving in the country.

"Applicants and their dependants who do not meet the requirements for leave to remain will be expected to return home and apply for entry clearance."